Iraq lays the cornerstone for the first underwater tunnel

Shafaq News / The Minister of Transport, Abdullah Al-Laibi announced on Sunday, laying of the cornerstone for the first tunnel for vehicles to travel under a waterway in Basra Governorate.

Al-Laibi said in a statement received by Shafaq News, "We will embark on the first stage of the construction project for the tunnel of Al-Zubayr channel for the manufacture of concrete parts in accordance with the contract signed with the Korean company Daewoo and under the supervision of the Italian consulting company" Tacentel. "

He added that "the tunnel is considered the first of its kind in the Middle East as a tunnel for vehicles under water in a way to pour and float concrete pieces and download them to the bottom of the channel," explaining that "the length of the tunnel is 2.5 km as the upper surface of the tunnel will be 16 meters deep under water, while the bottom will be 31 meters deep. "

Laibi said that, "The tunnel consists mainly of 10 square units, each of length 125 meters, width of 35 meters, and height of 11.5 meters. These pieces will be poured into a special basin that will be implemented for this purpose."

He explained that, "The tunnel is designed to display three corridors in each direction with a corridor for services and emergency, stressing that" the ministry seeks to develop the infrastructure of most of its formations, especially Iraqi ports, through an integrated work system aimed at using modern advanced methods in the work mechanism. "